Initially I was planning to buy Suzuki SX4 but that was
slightly over budget for me and I decided to buy a car in the range of Rs. 5
Lac. I had Hyundai’s Getz Prime, Suzuki’s Esteem and Swift. Earlier I had
driven Esteem for almost a year and then I drove Getz Prime for around 5 days
just before buying Swift. I wanted to send this car to my father’s place
Kulpahar which is a small town and the condition of the roads aren’t as good as
Delhi’s and the ground clearance of Esteem is low and has dated looks so I was
left with Getz and Swift to choose between. When I drove Getz on the streets of
Hyderabad I felt that it lacked
power at lower revolutions and to race ahead of vehicles I needed to switch to
lower gear frequently, otherwise Getz prime is a nice car to drive.
Now I come to the review of Swift Vxi. I have clocked 850 Kms and I think it is
the right time to write first hand experience of this motor.
@ Mileage ->* The worst mileage I received was 11 kmpl in the city driving
when I drove on second and third gear(mostly on second gear). in the mixed
city traffic conditions I received a mileage of 12kmpl and then I drove the car
on mix of city and highway driving(from Gurgaon in Haryana to Aligarh in UP),
the total to and fro distance covered was 395 Kms and 28 liters of fuel
consumed during the trip(out of 395 Kms 115 Kms was city drive on second and
third gear and rest 280 Kms highway driving) i.e. the mileage was 14 kmpl which
quite impressive for a heavy car like swift.(This mileage is likely to improve
after first and second service of the car).
@ Drive ->* This car is really a fun to drive. Electronic Power Steering is
marvelous. The 395 Kms drive was the longest stretch ever driven by me but it
wasn’t tiring, it was all fun. Initially the gear shaft was a bit hard but as
the time passed it smoothened. power breaks and power stearing are reliable.
Higher ground clearance makes the drive more comfortable. Suspension is a bit
hard but is good for bad terrain.
@ Comfort -> **Front seats are comfortable have enough headroom and
legroom but the rear seats are a bit cramped head room and legroom is less for
taller people. Rear seat has enough space to accommodate three passengers
(middle seat is not very comfortable).
@ Electronic gadgets ->* Interiors are a bit plasticky maruti needs to
improve this. Two trip meters, techometer all good but the color of dials
should have been white(black dial has less visibility).
@ Music System -> No factory installed music system with the car. I installed JVC Mp3 player with 6 inches Kenwood speakers at front doors and 9 inches JVC Oval speakers in the boot (installed on plyboard tray). The sound output with this combination is amazing.
Final verdict ->Really a good car to buy. its worth 5 lac.* Antilock
Breaking System and Airbags are very good safety measures but ABS is not very
useful until and unless you drive on high speeds(past 90 kmph) Airbags dont
open in case of impact from side so it can not be considered a very reliable
safety measure for passengers so I would recommend Swift Vxi(non ABS).
Happy Driving to all the drivers:-)
*First Update on this review:
I first wrote this review when my car clocked 850 Kms now my car has clocked 2250 Kms i.e. 1400 Kms more and during these 1400 Kms my car consumed 95 liters of fuel that means it gave an average mileage of 14.7kmpl..quite impressive:-). I got my car serviced at 1400 Kms.it ran 850 Kms after service and 550 Kms before first service. Out of these 1400 Kms 650 Kms city driving and 150 Kms drive on bad road and rest 600 kms highway driving that means these 1400 kms were a mix of various driving conditions.during this run my car gave mileage varying between 12-18kmpl.speed of the car varied from dead 10 kmph to 130 kmph. I expect this mileage to improve further after second service. I’ll write second update after my car clocks 5000 Kms.
@Comfort: Drive and seating is very comfortable, for the first time I drove a car continuously for over 5 hrs(mix of heavy traffic and highway driving) and I must say it wasn’t tiring at all rather it was all fun. I really enjoy driving this machine.
Verdict: It’s a total fun driving swift.
*Second Update:
My car has clocked another 1250 kms in city driving conditions and it gave me a mileage of 13.3 kmpl **(AC always on). Till now problem.I have driven this car for almost 2 months and it has clocked 3500 kms. In the same period I drove my another car( Zen Lx 2003 Model) for around 500 kms and I found swift easier to drive easier to park and easier to control. Swift takes less space to turn.I know this is unfair to compare the two cars.but I compared these two cars just to highlight the positive points of swift as it is heavier and larger than Zen.